Digital Reality
by Kaitou Kunoichi
Summary: Years have past since the legendary .hackers were seen and the girl named aura is all but a myth. The World seems at peace. That is, until strange occurrences begin to occur once again, dragging a clueless hero into the midst of his worst nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

_**Deep in the night**_

_**Far off the light**_

_**Missing my headache**_

"Fighting is no way to solve problems". The words echoed through his mind as the computer monitor in front of him glowed brightly in the darkness. 1:32am blinked the clock in the bottom right corner of the screen. It was a school night, but what did he care?

"Not at all" he muttered to himself, a grim smirk playing upon his lips. His fingers sped deftly over the keys, tak-tak-tak-tak-tak. Suddenly the monitor went black, then flashed back again, the words "The World" written across the screen.

Clicking the small box labled 'log in', he keyed in his username, "Sanryou63", his anger causing him to hit the keys harder than he intended. And why shouldn't they, he had every right to angry. Any 14 year old would if they had found out only hours before that their father was murdered in cold blood during a bank robbery. His eyes narrowed in sadness and rage as he recalled the incidents of the day; the phone call from the police, the way his mother had been so grief-stricken she simply up and left. Probably to a bar, he concluded, slipping on the virtual headset. She was always like that, even behind his fathers back, she would go out to a bar after work had ended, not reappearing at home until the crack of morning, claiming that the traffic was bad, or that she had stopped by to see her mother. Maybe his father knew the truth, maybe he didn't. The scent of alcohol always hung heavily in the air around her.

"Fighting is no way to solve problems." he muttered aloud, repeating the words his mother had told him after he got in his first fight at school. That drunken excuse of a mother of his didn't know a thing.

_**Visions of light**_

_**Sweeter delight**_

_**Kissin' my loveache**_

A small beeping sound form his computer brought his focus back to the present. He realized that his fingers had paused just above the enter button. "Forget you." he sneered as he pounded the 'enter' button.

Immediately an entire world appeared before his eyes, the server known as Mac Anu. He gripped the spear in his hands tightly, or at least, he would have had it not been only a program. Again the computer beeped at him. Moving his mouse up to his inbox, he saw he had one new message. Clicking on it twice, a short e-mail blinked on the screen. It was from Tetsuya.

"Hey dude. Heard about your dad. Really sorry. Hope to see you skool 2morrow. Dont do nething rash. L8er."

This wasn't rash. It was pretend, fictional, simply another program. Despite the fact that it was nearly 2am, The World was still packed with characters, people from all over the real world. Now all he had to do was choose a target. Just then a female character caught his eye. She had green eyes and red hair that was pulled into a high ponytail, reaching down to the middle of her back. A short green skirt and chest armor covered her and digital tattoos ran down her arm like blue snakes. She looked around unsurely, waiting for someone, maybe. Taking a moment to brush his purple bangs from his face, he approached her.

"Hey there." he said as she spun around to face him. "You looking for someone?"

"Oh, no" she responded hastily. "It's just that I don't really know what to do. I'm a newbie."

_Just as I suspected _Sanryou63 thought smugly.

"Not a problem!" he responded chipperly. "Hey, how about me and you form a party. I can help you level up and show you the wires. Sound good?"

"Yeah! Thanks a lot!" she responded enthusiastically.

People were so quick to trust. For all she knew, he could have been her stalker, someone out to gather information about her, hack her computer, steal her identity. Fortunately for her, he wasn't.

He led her to the rotating blue circle that stood at the very end of the town.

"This is a chaos gate." he explained. "You use this to transport to different worlds. To get there, you have to put in three keywords, and each combination takes you to a different world. The different worlds have different level monsters. Since you're new, you should start off at a lower level. You follow?"

"I think so."

"Great. Here we go, then. You just step up to it, like this." The girl followed his lead and took a few steps forwards towards the gate. "Now, just put in the keywords that I tell you. Great Broken Nothingness." Lifting his spear, he suddenly vanished. Following his lead, the girl raised her staff above her head and repeated the combination.

Suddenly she materialized next to him. The world around them had changed completely. It was dark, and bare plains stretched out in front of them. Dark silhouettes of ancient ruins were visible against the dark purple horizon and glowing golden orbs could be seen in the distance. All in all, the place gave her the shivers.

"You alright?" Sanryou asked, noticing her uneasiness.

"Uh, yeah." she said, looking at him.

"By the way, I don't believe we have really introduced ourselves." He gave a small bow. "Sanryou63, spear master, at your service.

"And I'm DarknessAngel35, a wave master." she said, grinning politely.

"Okay, well let's get started then. You see those glowing things? Those are monsters. If you get close enough to one, the monsters will be activated and you'll have to fight."

"But you can avoid them, right?"

"You can, but the point of the game is to level up and get stronger, and you can only do that if you fight monsters. Understand?" She nodded. "Besides, you really can't avoid them in dungeons." An obvious wave of uneasiness swept over her.

"D-dungeons?" she asked nervously, her hangs wringing her staff.

"Yeah. There are lots of monsters there, most of which you can't escape from. But if you reach the end, you get money and items. Think you're up to it?"

"I guess…"

_This is going more smoothly than I imagined. Of course, I knew from the beginning this would be too easy. _

He began walking briskly towards the large ruins when he stopped suddenly, spinning on his heel and almost causing DarkAngel35 to crash into him.

"Uh, what is it?" she asked, noticing the mischievous smirk that he had on his face, and a gleam in his purple eyes to match.

"First off, send me all of your items and money." he said coldly.

"W-what?"

Quicker than she could react, he raised the end of his spear, putting the tip to her neck.

"You heard me. Do it now."

Her character froze as her real-world counterpart sent the items, no doubt. After a moment she snapped out of it, and once again Sanryou63 heard his computer beep, one new message.

"Thank you for your services." he said as he drove the end of the spear into her neck. Her player character turned gray and fell to the ground, disappearing momentarily.

_Now, next victim… _he thought smugly, shifting his hold on the spear, when suddenly he noticed a strange sensation. Looking down at his hands, he realized with shock that they were stained red. He could feel the stickiness of the blood between his fingers, the irony scent overwhelming him.

"N-no way!" he gasped, trying to wipe it off on his clothing. His once-white shirt was smeared with red, but still it didn't leave his hands. He could feel his entire body begin to tremble. When he looked down at his feet, the body of the girl still lay there, looking up at him with a blank expression, a stream of blood pulsing from her neck.

"Get away from me!" he screamed, kicking the body with his leather boots. It limply flipped over onto her stomach, hiding the haunting green eyes. Hurriedly he tried to depart from the scene of the crime. "Log out, log out, log out…" he repeated with a quiet franticness in his voice. But when he tried to leave, nothing happened. Sweat beaded his forehead. "This is just a game, it's just a fucking game!" he screamed into the darkness. But if it was only a game, then why was this happening? Why did it seem so real? Suddenly all around him, more players began to appear, flashing their swords at him, players he recognized as the Crimson Knights.

"No! It wasn't me, I swear, it wasn't me!" he cried, his knees buckling weakly beneath him. "It wasn't me…" he whispered quietly, his tear stricken face looking at the ground, before darkness overcame him.

_**How come I must know where obsession needs to go.**_

_**How come I must know the direction of relieving?**_

He sat up quickly, breathing in quick, shallow breaths. He was tangled in his sheets, turned damp from sweat. Hysterically he looked form side to side, trying to place his surroundings. A set of blinds was drawn over a window to his left. Tearing his blankets off him, he sat on the edge of his bed, his body still shaking uncontrollably. A sudden beep caused him to jump of, his heart racing.

'1 New Message' flashed on his computer screen. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself.

It was only a bad dream. Dad's still alive, mom's home. I was only sleeping…Just a dream…

_**Deep in the night**_

_**Far off the light**_

_**Missing my headache**_

He clenched his fists, wrenching his face into a dismal grin, when his fingers slipped on the familiar grip of his spear. He wiped the sweat off onto his white pajamas and walked to the full length mirror that hung on the other side of his bed. How funny it would be to see himself so shaken, and all because of a bad dream. Confidently placing himself in front of the glass, what he saw caused his eyes to widen in horror.

His white shirt was smeared with red, and in his hand was not his spear; it wasn't logical, this was the real world. Tightly in his grasp was a black handled kitchen knife, the blade shining crimson with blood. He checked himself over. He had no wounds. He took a faltering step backwards, collapsing on his bed when he became aware of more sounds from outside; the sounds of sirens. Scrambling up he ripped down the blinds, sending them flying across the room, landing on a pile of clean laundry. Lights flashed as dark figures jumped out from their cars, racing towards the doorway of his apartment building.

Fast as he could manage, his legs feeling weak and shaky, he stumbled from his room, bursting into the room just opposite of it.

A woman lay sprawled out over the bed, her red hair falling over her face. The familiar green tattoos that snaked up her arms was reassurance enough that it was his mother.

"Mom.." he called feebly. But there was no response. As he weakly flipped on the lights, it was then he noticed the pool or red blood she lay in. "Mom!" he screamed in horror, rushing to her side, still holding the knife clenched in one fist as tears streamed from his eyes. Her green eyes stared lifelessly up at him, a large gash wound in her neck clearly visible.

_**Visions of light**_

_**Sweeter delight**_

_**Kissin' my loveache**_

The next thing he knew he felt strong arms pulling him away, metal cuffs being locked around his wrists as he was dragged from the apartment. The bloody knife had to be pried out of his grasp.

"It was the boy!" a woman shrieked outside their doorway as he was being led out. She was elderly, still dressed in a robe and nightcap.

"Calm down, miss." said a tall police officer, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Now, can you tell us anything you might know?"

"H-his father…" she began shakily. "His father was just recently murdered during a bank robbery. Just a few minutes ago I heard banging and a scream. That's all I know, that's really all I know! It must have driven him mad" she panted, her face gone white.

Suddenly the boy came to a halt in front of her, fighting against the officer who kept pushing him forward.

"My dad….he's dead?" he asked with an eerie calmness in his voice.

"Yes." replied the woman, recoiling as he studied her calmly. He smirked and began chuckling to himself, the soft mirth breaking into hysterical laughter as he was led down the stairs.

_**How come I must know where obsession needs to go?**_

_**How come I must know the direction of relieving?**_

He sat on a green couch, the soft cushions giving below him. The only other person in the room was a bespectacled man, studying him closely over the edge of a clip board.

"Tell me your name." the man stated for the tenth time.

"My name is Sanryou63."

"What is your real name?" he asked again, making a brief note on his clipboard.

"Sanryou63."

"Alright then, Sanryou63, why did you kill her?"

"I don't know."

"I think you do know."

"I don't."

"Tell me."

A grin, bordering on the edge of insane, spread across his face.

"Mother told me fighting is no way to solve problems. Mother is dead." With that, he was led away.

>>>to be continued...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Alright, .hack fanfiction! w00t!

Sentances in bold italics are song lyrics

Lyrics: Obsession (.hack/SIGN)

that is all.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Searching for eternity, you are a frivolous dreamer  
Clinging to unreliable dreams. Where are you going?_**

A sadness fell over her as she slipped on the set of blue virtual headset over her eyes, settling it on the arch of her nose. The server of Mac Anu spanned out in front her; the small bridge running across the river, characters darting here and there, trading for items or saving their progress.  
_Was this the last sight saw before…? _Her train of thought was broken by the grief.

Only days before, a schoolmate of hers, a friend, had been arrested for the murder of his mother. Police reports stated that only moments before her predicted time of death, he had been logged on The World, on the server Mac Anu. But what had happened to him? She knew him better than that, much better. He was a calm, carefree person. He hated to hurt people, hated to see them in pain, so what had driven him to hurt his own mother, to kill her? With a deep sigh she tore her mind away from the subject. For days it had been all that she could think about. She needed a rest.

Suddenly a character materialized next to her by the spinning chaos gate.

"Hey, Sayo!" he greeted cheerily, waving a hand holding a knife in the air to gain her attention. For a moment she was paralyzed by the sight of the knife, the murder weapon, but she quickly regained her wits.

"Hey, Ramensama." she said back jokingly, purposely using what she considered a ridiculous username.

"Oh, come on!" the tall, blue haired male character said, clasping a hand on her shoulder. "We can call each other by our real names, right WingedGuardian?" he said using her own username, playing along.

"All right, all right, Seiji." she laughed. "So, where did you plan to go?"

"I heard about some strange activity in Desperate Golden Wastelands." the twin-blade said, spinning his daggers around playfully. "You wanna check it out?"

"What kind of 'strange things'?" she asked skeptically. She was no fool. Viruses were a common occurrence in the world, even with the watchful eye of the Crimson Knights. He gave a small shrug.

"Some players say that they gained levels without fighting anything at all, while others claim that their levels dramatically decreased. There was also a rumor of rare items just sitting around! C'mon, what do we have to lose? Besides," he began, trailing off into a saddened voice, "They say that's the last area that your friend 'Sanryou63' was in." Her gaze turned downwards, staring at her gold armored boots that matched her golden eyes.

"Well…I suppose so. I wouldn't mind finding a new weapon." she said trying to lighten the mood a bit, brandishing her enormous battle ax. They shared a false smile before turning back to the chaos gate.

**_Searching for the key to open twilight, I cry,  
Unable to reach the moon's shadow. Where am I going?_**

Seiji appeared first, scouting out the surrounding area. It was a desert level, the sand and bright sun above was enough to tell him that.

"Hey, Sayo-" He was cut short as she materialized beside him, her short, silver hair falling about her shoulders.

"I'm here. So now what?"

"How 'bout we just take a look around?" he suggested. Shrugging, he set off, Sayo trailing him. "This is really odd…" he exclaimed after a few silent moments of wandering around the level.

"What is?"

"You haven't noticed? There are no monsters, and I can't even find a dungeon on the map."

"Maybe it's just under construction." she suggested, but couldn't swallow the lump of uneasiness that was rising in her throat.

"Wait…there, look!" he said, pointing towards the ancient ruins of a temple of some sort a short distance off. A dark opening was barely visible, beckoning them in. "Looks like a dungeon. Let's go check it out." He started off when he felt a firm hand grab his arm.

"No. We should go. If it's not on the map, then it's probably not supposed to be there. Let's just go."

"Oh, come on." he urged, prying her slim fingers off his muscular arm. "You scared?" Anger flashed in her eyes, her brows furrowing.

"Don't try to lure me in there by using such pathetic tactics." she warned. He stopped there. As nice as she was, he didn't want to push her. God only knew what she was capable of when she got fired up. He had seen her go off only once before, but that had been enough for him. He yanked his arm away.

"Go back if you want, then. I'm going ahead." he said stubbornly, making his way towards the dark hole ahead of them. She watched him go, and after a moments hesitation, jogged to catch up to him.

"Wait!" she cried, falling into step beside him. "You can't go in there alone. You didn't even check to see what level this area was and you're a much lower level than I." He shrugged.

"Suit yourself."

**_Pale moon of January, hide the colors of the sunrise.  
The gentle dawn of a night that should not end. _**

With the first step into the dungeon, a knot formed in Sayo's stomach. It was damp in there, digital luminous moss clung to the walls and skeletons that bordered the room. She stopped, looking around for some sign to what caused her anxiety, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. But still…she just couldn't shake the feeling.

"Hey, are you coming?" Seiji called back as he pried open the doors to the first level. Nodding she ran to catch up with him. As they stepped through the threshold, they were confronted by a life sized statue of a person. It appeared to be a young girl. She was wearing as long, flowing dress, bangs obscuring her eyes. Sayo was sure she had seen this girl somewhere before…and yet, it wasn't the same girl at all…

"W-what is that?" she asked quietly, as if it might be awoken by even the smallest noise.

"It's just a statue." he said, trying to hide the uneasiness in his voice. But Sayo still heard it as his voice was slightly higher pitched than before. As a musician, she was quite attuned to hearing differences in instruments or even voices.

_So, he feels it too…_She felt slightly comforted by this thought.

He approached the statue, his steps fast and confident, though maybe too fast to conceal his anxiety. Using the tip of his blade, he ran it over the stone. The sound of metal against stone echoed loudly in the silence.

"Don't do that!" she gasped in alarm, snatching the blade from her friends hand. "We should go. Now. Both of us. This isn't-" She fell silent as she became aware of a new sound.

"Sayo…what is it?" Seiji asked, curious as to her sudden break off. She irately put a finger to her lips, signaling silence. He obediently obeyed. If there was one thing she knew, it was sounds.  
She closed her eyes, homing in on the source of it. An odd ringing sound, high pitched, no breaks in it. She took a few slow steps towards the statue, leaning in closer to it, then nearly jumped back in surprise.

"It's the statue." she whispered.

"Alright. You win. Let's go." Seiji said, taking a few steps back.

_This place is definitely getting creepy… _he thought to himself, something he never would have admitted aloud. Then he heard it too, a high pitched ringing in his ears. He quickly spun on his heels in a panic, racing towards the doors when they suddenly slammed shut, sealing them in.

"Seiji!" Sayo cried, running to his side. "We have to get out of here!" Both of them pushed on the heavy stone doors, trying desperately to open them, the ringing getting louder each moment. Before long they were both huddled against the door, covering their ears when all of a sudden it stopped. Blinking, Sayo looked around. Nothing had changed, nothing but the sound. Jumping to her feet she tried once again to force the doors open, but to no avail. She sighed in defeat.

"Can you contact a moderator?" Seiji asked, uncovering his own ears. But to his disdain Sayo shook her head. "Damn, you too? What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know…all I do know is that this is no time for 'I-told-you-so'. I can get to that later." she said, trying to lighten the mood a little. But neither of them felt any better at all.

_Free me…_

Sayo spun around. "Who's there?" she called into the dark corners of the room.

"Sayo, what is it?" asked Seiji, rising to his feet in alarm at his friends sudden outburst.

"I heard a voice. Someone said something."

"Well it wasn't me." he said, a wave of concern rushing over him. To the best of his knowledge, voices were never a good sign.

_Break the prison…_

"Answer me!" Sayo called out again, panic filling her.

"Sayo, no one but us is here." said Seiji, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. He could feel her trembling.

"No…" she said in a distant voice. "Not here…there." a shaky finger pointed straight at the statue of the girl. Suddenly she started forwards, her ax ready in her hands. As she reached the statue, she swung it to one side, bringing it back towards the statue with amazing force.

"Sayo, what the hell are you doing!" he called, but she seemed unable to hear him as she continued to hack away at it with the ferocity of a demon.

**_Because of love's heaviness, painfully close,  
The heart no longer mine cried for freedom._**

_Get out, get out, GET OUT! _her mind screamed at this new, unfamiliar voice that had entered her head. The ringing in her ears was unbearable.

"Sayo, what the hell-!" Seiji shouted again, this time lunging forwards to grab her arm before another blow could be struck, but it already seemed too late for the statue. Several large chunks were missing out of it and one long crack ran straight down the middle. Sayo blinked a few times, then shook her head.

"Uh….Seiji…" she said unsurely, "What just happened?" He looked down at her with astonishment, releasing her from his grasp.

"You mean…you don't remember? You were just standing there, attacking the statue."

"Attacking the statue?" She looked at it, closely studying each spider-vein crack that ran through it. "I remember…she was calling me. She wants to be free."

"Sayo, it's a statue." Seiji insisted, putting great emphasis on 'statue'. "Statue's don't talk. I think that the ringing may have gotten to your head." Then a thought struck him. "Hey, do you have a sprite ocarina with you?" She shook her head sadly, her short silver-white hair brushing gently across her face.

"Maybe she can help us." she said in a distant voice. Before Seiji had time to stop her, she threw one last blow at the statue. The cracks grew wider and wider until the statue of the girl crumbled before them. Seiji could only watch in horror. There was something about that statue, he could feel it, but whether it was good or bad he wasn't so eager to find out. All he knew was that he desperately wished she hadn't disturbed it.  
And his fears were soon confirmed. From the pile of rubble rose a purple, slowly taking the form of a whispy-looking girl with a mischievous smile and cold purple eyes.

"A-aura!" Sayo stuttered, retreating a little. Aura was but a legend in The World, said to give those that found her wonderful powers and thrown into mystic events, yet here she was before them. The girl looked at her, her grin broadening.

"Aura? No. I am Dusk."

**_When shining things existed only in dark places,  
I gazed out the small window into the distance._**

"What the hell are you?" Seiji growled, lifting his knives into a position he could attack from. She seemed to take humor in this.

"There can be no light without darkness, no good without evil, no order without corruption." she said. "The Maker could not realize this, and thus, I was created from all his first, his 'failed' trials." Sayo's knees gave out beneath her and she fell backwards, her gaze never leaving the hovering girl who, with each passing moment, became more solid. Her purple hair matched those malicious eyes and she was draped in a cloak of blackness deeper than either of the players could comprehend. "Too long have I watched and waited. Now it is my turn."

"But, you're still just a program, and you can still be deleted." snarled Seiji, using his anger to hide his fear. A cold laugh escaped her as she glided closer to them. The doors were still tightly sealed. The thought of restarting their computers ran through both of the players minds, but even if they did, they had the feeling it was already too late.

As the girl continued to descend upon them from the top of the pile of broken stone, Sayo scrambled backwards, but not quick enough. Before she could blink, the strange girl had caught hold of her wrist. A terrible pain shot up through her entire arm causing her to cringe, and thoughts and memories that were not hers flooded her mind.

**_Pale moon of January, sinking into infinity.  
The gentle dawn of a love that should not end._**

_This shouldn't be happening! It's just a game! Just a stupid, stupid game! Just make it stop! Make the darkness STOP! _she screamed silently. Without warning the girl released her, the pain subsiding. But she suddenly felt very tired, empty, almost. Then darkness descended upon her, her last glimpse of light the glowing mosses that hung from the ceiling high above.

Seiji could only watch in horror as his friend slumped to the floor, her player character turning gray, then vanishing. The girls eyes turned towards him. He panicked.

Sitting at him computer, he fumbled with the virtual headset, removing it with shaky hands and throwing it to one side of the room before pressing a glowing blue button on his computer. Almost instantly the screen went blank and the blue glow faded. He leaned back in his chair, breathing heavily. He didn't know what had happened, but it wasn't right. Sayo…she had been in pain. Real pain. But it just wasn't possible. He looked down at his palms, slippery with sweat. Rummaging through is pockets, he removed a small cell phone and hastily dialed a number in and raised it to his ear. It was Sayo's cell. If she was alright, she would answer it. He would hear a reassuring voice. Of course everything was alright. It was just a game, nothing more. It could never effect anyone in the real world, could it? After a few more rings, there was a beep as her answering machine message played out. With a shaky hand he pressed the disconnect button.

_She always answers her phone…**always**. _

Then there was another beep, but not from his phone. His head jerked up to face his computer screen blinking '1 New Message'.

_What the…?_

He didn't remember restarting the computer. But nonetheless…  
He reached up with his mouse, double clicking the small mailbox icon. '1 New Message. Sender anonymous'. But that wasn't unusual; he belonged to a lot of online communities. But when he opened it, he was struck with disbelief.

y0u Hue 3eeN (0mE, (0Me +0 $h1N1ng g01Den De$er+  
ur!

**_Pale moon of January, hide the colors of the sunrise.  
The gentle dawn of a night that should not end._**

****

_**>>>**_To be continued...

**_>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>_**

Okay, long story short, my computer crashed but luckily I remembered to save some of these files before it did.

This story is finished, but I have to find copies of the last chapters that I printed out and re-type them all over again --;

I only pray I can find them...

Lyrics: Yasashii Yoake (.hack/SIGN)


	3. Chapter 3

_**If you are lost in your way deep in an awesome story**_

_**Don't be in doubt and stray, cling to your lonesome folly.**_

_What had that meant? _he wondered to himself, staring at the print out of the strange e-mail he had received the previous day.

_y0u __Hue_ _3eeN (0mE, (0Me +0 $h1N1ng g01Den De$er+_

_ur!_

He had decoded it as far as he could during math class. 'You have been come…come to Shining Golden Desert.' It didn't make any sense, but it was the last word that puzzled him more than anything. 'Aura'. Surely after yesterdays incident he would have believed, at least, so he thought. But he was a naturally skeptical person. He even wondered whether it was just a dream, some strange nightmare caused by too many hours in front of the computer. But one glance at the empty seat next to him told him that it really had happened.

Sayo hadn't returned any of his numerous messages and wasn't at school. Even when he called her house phone her mother had simply stated that she had locked herself in her room again with the blasting music. Not unusual. He sighed in frustration, running his fingers through his hair. This message was giving him a headache and he was far to preoccupied to concentrate on the lesson. Picking up his pencil, he began to sketch a small picture of his character on the bottom of his homework assignment; a tall young-looking boy with electric blue hair that was cropped short and startling red eyes. A thick black scarf covered his mouth and flew out behind him. Black straps crisscrossed over his chest

Out of nowhere the last bell of the day rang, giving him a start. As the other students filed from the classroom, he began stuffing his books into his small backpack with some difficulty.

As he left the school, he had asked the teacher if there was any work that Sayo missed that he might be able to drop off to her. After all, her house was on his way home from school. That, and it was an excuse to see her.

_**Now you're too close to the pain, let all the rain go further.**_

_**Come back and kiss me again, bother or do not bother.**_

When he rang the doorbell an elderly man, slouched over from the burden of time answered and quickly motioned for him to come in.

"Sayo is up in her room." he said. With a quick nod, Seiji calmly made his way up the steps to the second story of her house. Her door was the first on the left at the end of a long hallway. He knocked once. Twice. There was no answer from inside.

"Sayo, you in there?" he called. "I have some stuff from school for you." He waited a few moments before knocking again. "Hey, Sayo?"

"She's not here right now." came a female voice from behind him. He spun around to face her mother. She was smiling politely, but it wasn't hard to see the sadness in it.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I was told she was in her room."

"It's no problem at all." she insisted. "You have some work for her? I'll take that for her. Thank you." The Her expression never wavered. Making his way back down the steps to the front door he paused for a moment, then turned back around.

"Um…Is Sayo…okay? She hasn't returned the messages I left for-" He was cut short at the sight of the woman leaning weakly against one wall to support herself. Her youthful face seemed to have aged before his very eyes. He rushed back up the stairs to help her but was politely waved away.

"Please….do you promise to keep this to yourself?" she asked, desperation in her voice.

_What is this? What's happened?_

"Last night…I found Sayo in her room. She was passed out in front of the computer. When I went to move her to her bed I realized her breathing was shallow. She was so cold…" she said in a harsh whisper.

_**Heed the chorus of pain taking you back to proper ways.**_

_**It's so easy to find if you could remind me.**_

"Is she alright? Where is she?" Seiji asked, trying his best to shield the panic in his voice. But the woman suddenly burst out in tears, covering her face with her hands.

"It was only a small argument! I didn't mean to upset her so badly, I was just trying to be a parent, a good parent!" she cried. He gave her a moment to collect herself before she continued. "I'm sorry about that. But…I trust you should know the truth." She took a rattling sigh. "She tried to kill me. Right now she is at a…a special hospital."

_You mean a crazy house _he thought to himself. He had heard about one near the city. _The one that friend of hers was taken to._

When he finally reached his house again, he immediately retreated into his dark room and threw his backpack on his bed. Homework could wait. He needed to find out what was going on in The World. Logging onto the game, he couldn't keep down the lump that had formed in his throat.

As soon as the city of Mac Anu appeared before him, he immediately switched to the server of Dun Lorieg. After all, it was the only server he could reach that specific area through. It reminded him of an island floating adrift on the clouds below. The activity here was slightly increased from Mac Anu due to the fact that this was a higher level server. Then he froze.

"Forgot to consider that…" He really hadn't considered what level this area was. On top of that he hadn't even received information on _where_ to meet! "Just wonderful…"

With a sigh, he ran off to the nearest item store.

After spending the last of his earnings on all the potions he could carry, he was making his way back to the chaos gate when a small, shy-looking girl approached him carrying a staff with a large moon at the top.

"Uh…um…excuse me…" she stuttered.

"Yeah?" he asked unsurely.

"Oh, u-uh…um…well…" There was a long pause. "Nevermind!" she stated quickly and dashed past him. He sighed, grabbing the hood of her outfit before she could escape him. He knew a newbie when he saw one, and knew that his appearance alone was rather intimidating. But truthfully he couldn't let them go so uneducated.

"Hold up there. What was it?" he asked turning to face her. He smiled instinctively, although he knew she couldn't see it behind the black scarf he wore. "No need to be embarrassed."

"W-well it was just…could you please help me level up?"

"Uh…sure!" he responded without really thinking it through. After all, the e-mail didn't say to come alone, did it? "What level are you at now?"

"Only level 12. My friend who was helping me just logged off."

_Well, that's four levels higher than I am _he thought, a bit ashamed of himself. Of course, she would probably still need his help, since wave masters weren't as strong in attacks as other warrior classes. That, and with her spells she could help him, too.

"I have a certain area in mind. You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all!" she responded, her confidence seeming to have suddenly risen a bit. "My name is Kerri."

"I'm Seiji." he replied. As much as it bothered some people to share their names online, he wasn't one to worry about it. "So, ready to go?" With a vigorous nod and broad grin they headed off towards the chaos gate.

_**Now you are lost in your way deep in an awesome story.**_

_**So I will find you again, kiss you for lonesome folly.**_

****

**_>>> _**to be continued...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

Lyrics: A Stray Child (.hack/SIGN)


	4. Chapter 4

_**Come with me in the twilight of a summer night for awhile**_

_**Tell me of a story never ever told in the past**_

_**Take me back to the land**_

_**Where my yearnings were born**_

_**The key to open the door is in your hand**_

_**Now fly me there**_

"Wow! This level is so pretty!" Kerri exclaimed as soon as they arrived at the area. It was true, Seiji had never seen an area like this before. "But…are you sure it's the place you meant to come to?"

They stood before the threshold of what appeared to be a temple, hovering in midair above a sky of crimson and gold clouds, a sunset. Above them was darkness, penetrated only by the faint glimmer of stars.

_How can something so false…be so beautiful?_

"I'm sure I put in the right keywords: Shining Golden Desert. I guess we're supposed to go in." he said, making a motion towards the giant set of double doors that led into a towering steeple. Nodding, she quickly followed him inside.

It appeared as most dungeons of the sort did; doorways leading off to the left and right towards the front where a large stained glass window glowed in the continual final lights of the day and a statue… It caused him to shiver. It looked so much like the one from the other day. Had he not been so curious as to who the sender of the mysterious e-mail was, he would have listened to his common sense and high-tailed it out of there. Of course, nothing seemed to be making much sense anymore to him.

"Do you know who that statue is?" the girl asked quietly, noticing the twin blades gaze fixed upon it. "Aura…" she said, more to herself than to him. "The light of The World, the Key of the Twilight…" Her voice began trailing off as her party member swiftly made his way to the front of the room towards the door on the left.

_I just wanna get this done and get out of here._

Grasping the handles firmly he pulled. But to no avail. The door wouldn't so much as budge. Again he tried only to suffer the same defeat. Kicking the door in frustration he ran to the one opposite of it only to have the same result.

"Maybe we should go…" suggested Kerri shyly, a little alarmed at this sudden behavior so unlike the person she'd met.

"Wait…" came a voice. The two party members looked at each other, each knowing the other hadn't said it.

"Who's there? Are you the one that called me?" shouted Seiji, slowly making his way back to Kerri's side near the entrance. If they had to run, he wasn't about to be caught away from the only exit. Suddenly a white mist appeared in front of them, only a blur at first but soon taking the obvious form of a young girl. Panic filled the twin blade as he stood, helpless to run or attack.

"There is no need to be afraid." the girl said in her soft, distant voice that only made him all the more nervous. Glancing down at his partner, he was astonished to see she simply stared at the girl in amazement. Not the slightest hint of fear was present with her.

"You're Aura!" she exclaimed in a whisper, wonderment in her voice. The girl in white turned her attention towards Kerri.

"Yes. I am known as Aura. I cannot stay, for the dark shall overcome the light. Do not forget to keep the memory of the sun, even in the darkest of nights." she said, gliding closer to them. Coming face-to-face with Seiji, she paused, placed a gentle kiss upon his forehead, then vanished, like a wisp of smoke.

Spots of light burst in front of his vision, brighter than he could have ever imagined. Even upon squeezing his eyelids shut against the intolerable brightness he was unable to block it out. Clutching his head in his hands, his daggers fell to the floor with a clatter and he collapsed to his knees.

"Seiji…!" Kerri cried, overcome with concern. Her voice seemed so far away…

"I'll….be right back…" he managed to say, before his character froze completely.

_**Fanatics find their heaven in never ending storming wind**_

_**Auguries of destruction be a lullaby for rebirth**_

_**Consolations, be there**_

_**In my dreamland to come**_

_**The key to open the door is in your hand**_

_**Now take me there**_

Throwing off his virtual headset, he threw his head back, rubbing his eyes to rid himself of the sudden light. When he was once again able to open his eyes, all he saw was his plain white ceiling above him, if a bit blurry.

_What the hell…?_

After taking a few more moments to collect himself, he picked up the goggles again, (praying that their sudden impact against the wall hadn't damaged them, and to his relief they were fine) and placed them over his eyes.

Once again The World came into view. He blinked a few times, looking around.

"Seiji, what was that? Are you alright?" Kerri still knelt by his side, concern filling her watery blue eyes. For her sake, he forced a smile.

"Yeah, it was just…my computer monitor…it was screwing up again. Heh…" It wasn't the most convincing argument (and he wasn't the most convincing person) but it seemed to have settled her a little. "How about we go find an area where we can actually level up in?"

"If it's alright with you." she said, obviously still worried despite his reason. He couldn't blame her. What would _he _have done if suddenly a friend began to bug out in a virtual reality? Truthfully, he didn't think he'd be half as calm as Kerri was, he gave her that.

With a nod, he led the way out the doors and back to the server.

But as Kerri turned to leave, she spared one last glance back at the sad-looking statue that stood in front of the window.

"I'll find you again, Aura…"

_**I'm wandering down, and searchin' down the secret sun**_

****

**_>>> _**To be continued...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Song lyrics: Key of the Twilight (.hack/SIGN)


End file.
